Parents visiting
November 11th my parents arrived here in Zambia to stay here until January 12th. They landed in the afternoon and by the evening we were in our house. That same night it rained quite a bit and we found out that the roof was far from waterproof. We couldn't go to bed with good decency because it was also leaking above our beds and there was too much noise. This was a difficult entry for my parents, after such a long journey and therefore not being able to go to bed immediately. But the next day I immediately started working with the roof, after which it was already a lot better. A few days after they arrived I had a bike race nearby at a small reservoir, where the three of us went. That same day my parents were married for 35 years and back in town we went out to dinner.
Soon the lack of running water became a problem and plans were soon made to install a water system in which we collect rainwater with gutters. Gutters, tank and a pump were purchased and my father and I started making this system while my mother started painting the house. After a few days of work, the gutters and the tank were connected and we had to wait for the next rain that soon came. That night it didn't even rain that much but the tank was already more than half full and we found out that the system works well. After the pipes had also been laid, the pump could be switched on for the first time. At first there were some leaks, but now that they have been fixed, it works very well. If you open the tap, the pump turns on automatically, so it actually works the same as in the Netherlands.
In December OM is closed so we also had time to go out. We didn't want to travel too far distances but still make some trips. Our first trip was to the Mkushi where there is an OM base and where a friendly missionary family lives. This is quite remote, I have also been here with my parents when they were here in 2016 and they liked to go there again to see how it is there now. On the way back from here we visited other friends on a remote farm. That is a couple who have been living there for almost 2 years now and are building up their place.
Back at home, plans were made to make a meadow for the chickens. The chickens used to just walk around and therefore always walked on the porch and sometimes also in the house. It drove us crazy, so we wanted to make their own place for them. We also started with the creation of a small vegetable garden close to home where there are some different types of lettuce and herbs.
After the small vegetable garden was realized, we set off a little further north in Zambia. The first night we slept in a small game park, on the trip through the park we mainly saw different types of goats. The next day we went a little further north to the province which translated is called "the copper belt". A lot of copper is extracted here and the 2 big cities there are Kitwe and Ndola. First we came to Ndola, I have been here many times, you can see that this city is a lot more developed than Kabwe. About 50 kilometers away is Kitwe, which is slightly larger. Between these 2 cities is the only dual carriageway in Zambia. This gives a different picture of Zambia. Further back home we wanted to go to a special sunken lake where you can swim. To make it all a bit more travelable, we wanted to be a bit closer to that lake from Kitwe. I knew someone who works halfway at a lodge there and that's where we spent the night. The next day we went to that lake and it was very beautiful. We had brought some things to BBQ and swam. The way back we wanted to take an alternative route, but this was not such a good idea. There was a dirt road back to Kabwe, the first part was very good but then got worse and worse. Much later than hoped we arrived back in Kabwe and we were counted out of that bump away.
From then on, my father and I didn't start to feel so good anymore and we did less, which made it seem like we couldn't get the things we started done. We decided to ask a handy friend of mine to come and help us for a few days and soon we were back on schedule. At Christmas the meadow was ready for the chickens and they could go in. Someone had also brought me a goat in exchange for a ball, so we let them walk in there as well.
On2nd Christmas day we left for the south to go to Siavonga, this is a place on 1 of the largest reservoirs in the world on the border with Zimbabwe. I had heard about this before, but had never been there before and it exceeded my expectations. On the way here we had to pass through the capital Lusaka, where we stopped at a tourist market, where the souvenirs for home were bought and a beautiful painting for my house. Arriving in Siavonga we had our own little cottage overlooking the lake. In Siavonga there are a few luxury accommodations where you can sit and eat. We stayed there for 3 nights and it was pretty hot. 1 day we went to the dam to see where the electricity is generated and the other day we took a boat trip with a speedboat on the lake. We had a nice relaxed time there. Our plan was to stay another night in Lusaka and eat somewhere on the Zambezi (1 of the larger rivers of Africa, which also flows through the same reservoir). The area there is called lower Zambezi and there are many wild animals. We were hoping to find an accommodation where we could have lunch and then go to Lusaka, but it didn't quite work out that way. We wandered further than we first intended and struggled to find a place. Eventually we found a place where we could eat but were later than planned. The owner asked us why we didn't stay a night, it was a somewhat small accommodation but it was all fine and he made us a good proposal. We discussed with our overnight stay in Lusaka if we could come a day later, which was not a problem. So we decided to stay there for a night. We also went on safari with our own car and saw elephants and zebras. The next day we went to Lusaka and the next day we went home.
After this my parents were already in the last 2 weeks of their stay it was really finishing the last things, although I hoped that my father could still help me with the creation of a vegetable garden and planting potatoes. For this, a piece of land had to be blackened and a local football team came to help us with that. We also had rain showers and could not always go on land. Furthermore, we wanted to make a walk to the mountain that you can see from my house, this is about 5km one way. We had to cross the stream near my house which was already quite a bit higher. Shoes were taken off and trouser legs curled up to cross. We were lucky it didn't rain and were able to climb to the top where we had a nice view. On Tuesday we wanted to leave for Lusaka to do the covid test so that my parents could fly Wednesday. On Monday the weather was good and my father, together with Joseph, who had been working for me since that week, planted the potatoes and sown vegetables.
All in all, we had a very good time. Also had to get used to being alone here. We have done a lot and also experienced a lot. We have been to church here a few times in the community. Furthermore, we had quite a lot of car trouble and have been to the garage a lot. But now most of the problems seem to have been solved. Don't think this is the last time they come here and stay here like this…
To see more of the house what it looks like now, my mother made a video. You can watch it here: